


Branches

by IowaGuy1979



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:42:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29565594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IowaGuy1979/pseuds/IowaGuy1979
Summary: Max had done it, she had saved the girl who really mattered.The cost was higher than she had expected, however.
Relationships: Rachel Amber/Chloe Price
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	Branches

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cure4banshees](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cure4banshees/gifts).



April 22, 2013

This was it. Rachel Amber’s last day alive.

She struggled against her binds. “You bastard!”, she snarled.

“It’ll all be over soon, Rachel. Your body will be dead, buried, then forgotten. An ironic end for one who aspired to greatness.”, Mark Jefferson smirked, darkly.

The door to the Dark Room slammed open. Both turned in surprised.

And there stood a small young woman. She looked like a stiff breeze could send her flying. She held a. .45 pistol. He smirked again. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but, just put that down, little girl.”

A dark, cold voice emanated from the girl. A voice that sounded like it had seen hell, itself.

“Shut the fuck up, Mark.”, the girl snarled.

His eyes lit up in anger. How dare this little shit say that! Looking in her eyes made him shut up. Death was in her eyes, simply put.

“Untie her, you sack of shit.”

“But, I-”

The man collapsed to his knees, as a small red hole suddenly appeared in his left shoulder.

“Next time, I won’t be so polite. Untie her. Now. Fucker.”

He limped over to Rachel, and untied her. He then whipped out a syringe from behind his back. “Back off, bitch! I’ll kill her!”. He tried to put up a front of anger. Anyone who looked in his eyes, however, would see the terror in them.

Before she even had time to scream, Rachel’s face was covered in blood and bone. The psychotic photographer slumped to the ground, minus a head.

“I don’t fuck around when it comes to monsters like you, Mark”, the girl said to the headless corpse.

She fixed her gaze on Rachel, “You OK?”

The blonde nodded wordlessly.

The brunette nodded back, and left the room.

Were Rachel in a better state of mind, she would have asked the other girl for her name, or recognized her from Chloe’s many stories.

But then, having someone's head explode right next to you wasn’t a really calming experience.

As the white light faded around her, Max found herself in her old room in Seattle. “What? Where?” She looked around, confused.

There was a text conversation open on the phone in her hand. It was between her and Chloe. She scanned through.

CHLOE: Hey, Maxaroo. It’s awesome that you got that scholarship to that art school in N.Y.C! Rachel and I are so fucking proud of you!

MAX: Thanks! Tell Rachel that I’m happy for her, living the model life. LA. hasn’t changed you, has it, Bluebeard?

CHLOE: No way! Rachel and I made this damn town bow down to us, not too long after we got here, y’know.

MAX: XD

CHLOE: Maxine. You know the rules. No Fucking Emojis.

MAX: But, it’s not a fucking emoji: 

Max took a deep shaky breath. Scrolling back further, the years behind her, that she didn’t know, played out.

With Rachel not dying, she was there for Chloe. She had convinced the bluenette to reengage in contact with Max. Their relationship had deepened, and the model and the punk fell in love.

On the nearby desk, was an acceptance letter from New York City’s School of Visual Arts, just as Chloe had mentioned.

Max blinked back tears. She knew this might happen, that saving Rachel would mean the end of the possibility of her and Chloe being more than best friends. Still, the closing of that possibility hurt so much.

A song floated from Max’s stereo

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why

It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It’s something unpredictable, but, in the end it’s right

I hope you had the time of your life

So take the photographs and still frames in your mind

Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time

Tattoos and memories and dead skin on trial

For what it’s worth, it was worth all the while

Max sank to the floor, sobbing.

“Fuck you, Billie Joe Armstrong”, she said, brokenly.

**Author's Note:**

> Heard this on Spotify, and it felt perfect for either a Chloe and Rachel break up song, or a Max and Chloe one.
> 
> I felt having Max go back to save Rachel, and losing the chance of anything more than friendship with Chloe, packed more of a punch.
> 
> Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) is sung by Green Day.


End file.
